Earlier this week, 28-year-old Alonso said the new car, to be launched next Thursday and codenamed 281, is "almost ready".

Santander confirms de la Rosa backing(GMM) Pedro de la Rosa is being personally sponsored in 2010 by Santander.

In addition to sponsoring races and the F1 teams Ferrari and McLaren, the Spanish bank said on Wednesday it is supporting de la Rosa's return to the grid with Sauber.

It is believed the backing is in the form of the Santander subsidiary Universia, the network of Spanish and Portuguese speaking universities.

Santander communications boss Juan Manuel Cendoya, however, played down reports that de la Rosa's new employer Sauber is being directly sponsored.

"Pedro is a friend and a very intelligent person who impressed us very much in our three years together (at McLaren).

"We are going to support him personally, but we are not going to be at Sauber with any of our brands," Cendoya explained.

He also said Santander would have liked to sponsor Bruno Senna's debut this year, but deemed the Spanish bank's F1 involvement is already fully subscribed.

Kubica may start Renault testing without teammate(GMM) Robert Kubica's eventual 2010 teammate at Renault may be missing from the launch of the R30 car and its opening test at Valencia.

The events are scheduled to take place at the Spanish circuit on January 31 and the following day respectively.

But team boss Eric Boullier said he might not have finalized the Enstone based team's full driver lineup by then.

"We'd love to take the decision before the test. If not, Robert will start the development alone," he is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

Frenchman Boullier, who is Flavio Briatore's full time replacement in the wake of the crashgate scandal and subsequent Genii Capital buyout, confirmed on Wednesday that Nick Heidfeld is in the running for the seat.

But he also indicated that the Russian pay-driver Vitaly Petrov is an option, as are drivers of Chinese (Ho-Pin Tung) and Austrian (Christian Klien) nationality.

"Today we have a situation where there are not many drivers available on the market," Boullier conceded.

Felipe Massa in his new Santander sponsored overalls

Massa to test Rossi's F2008 on Friday(GMM) Felipe Massa will drive a 2008-specification Ferrari at Barcelona on Friday.

The constructors' title winning F2008 is already being run on GP2 slicks by the Italian marque's F1 Clienti department this week for the MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi.

"As the car and the track were available I thought it would be helpful to go onto the track for a day to continue gaining confidence," Brazilian Massa, who sat out the final seven races of 2009 following his Budapest crash, is quoted as saying in a Ferrari statement.

Late last year, the 28-year-old tested a 2007 Ferrari on two occasions.

"After the days in Fiorano and Mugello this will be a nice opportunity to get back driving on such an interesting and challenging track," Massa added.

After getting in some dry laps of the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday, Rossi - who spun twice early on - recorded a best time of 1.25.2, which is three seconds off last year's slowest qualifying time for the Spanish grand prix.

Michael Schumacher

No neck trouble as Schu takes no.3 for 2010(GMM) Michael Schumacher has confirmed there is no sign of the injuries that thwarted his return to F1 last year.

In the wake of Felipe Massa's Budapest crash, the 41-year-old German had to call off his agreed return for Ferrari due to the effects of a motorcycle testing crash early last year.

Schumacher, who is returning full-time with Mercedes GP in 2010, tested for three days in a GP2 car last week and announced on Wednesday that he is in perfect health.

"The after-effects of that accident are gone since long, that's why I was sure that the neck would not cause any problems," he said in an interview with his official website.

Schumacher admits that the final hurdle will be the lifting of F1's winter test ban in on 1 February, when he will get at the wheel of the 2010 car.

"Only then the old feeling will be completely back. I can't wait to be back there," he added.

A spokeswoman for the Brackley based team, meanwhile, confirmed that Schumacher's request to take the higher race number (3) from his teammate Nico Rosberg has been granted.

"Michael has a preference for odd numbers," she said, also revealing that the FIA has already approved the switch. "He asked if he could be the odd number and we were happy to accept."

"The test was super," said Schumacher in an interview for his personal website. "We have been handicapped a bit because of the weather in the first two days but on the third day we could do a lot and even simulate a race on slicks.

"It went better than I had expected. I immediately felt well in the car, it was as if I never was gone."

"The after-effects of that accident are gone since long, that's why I was sure that the neck would not cause any problems," he said. "This was one year ago, that's over.

"I have been practicing since December physically very carefully and feel extremely fresh and fit. That was one of the reasons why I felt so good in the car in Jerez.

"But then, Formula 1 is another thing, the g-forces are higher, that's not really comparable. That is why I look forward so much to testing in February. Only then the old feeling will be completely back. I can't wait to be back there."

"After my retirement at the end of 2006 I was very happy, I felt relief, just like freedom," said Schumacher.

"I enjoyed that feeling because especially in the last two years F1 had demanded a great deal from me - not the racing, that I loved during all the time, but all those things which relate to living under constant observation. It did me extremely well to be quiet for those three years.

"It really is as if my batteries were fully loaded. My energy is back completely. I really notice how the prickle is coming, how motivated I am because I so much look forward to this competition. It is about time to start this whole thing."

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